Unless you are a serious prospect hound, you may have never heard of Alex Cobb before. The reason for that is that Alex Cobb doesn’t wow the scouts with his stuff. His fastball is average, and his secondary offerings (a split-change and a curveball) are good, but not great.
What is great is his command. He knows how to use his pitches, where to use his pitches, and when to use his pitches. His strikeout numbers have Sabr-types swooning, and his walk numbers have the Rays front office believing. At least they believe in Cobb enough to call him up for a spot-start against the Angels.
He will be facing the Angels’ stud right-hander Jered Weaver in the rubber match of the three game series. Weaver leads the American League in wins (6), K/9 (9.66), ERA (0.99), and is in the top-10 in a bunch of other categories. If the Rays are going to win they are going to need Cobb to pitch very well, and they are going to need to generate just enough offense against the man who is currently the best pitcher in the league. First pitch is at 1:40 PM.